1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heavy equipment having a tool box opening in forward direction of the equipment, in which a toll box door mounted on an upper frame can be easily opened and closed, and an auxiliary structure, such as a handrail that is used when an operator ascent toward an engine room, is not required to reduce the manufacturing cost.
More particularly, the present invention relates to heavy equipment having a tool box opening in forward direction of the equipment, in which a tool box door can be simply opened and closed through pressing of a button, and the shape of the tool box door can be freely designed to sufficiently secure storage space.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a caterpillar excavator includes a lower driving structure 1; an upper frame 2 mounted on the lower driving structure 1 to be swiveled; a cap 3 and an engine room 4 mounted in front and in the rear of the upper frame 2; working devices 11 including a boom 5 fixed to the upper frame 2, an arm 6, a bucket 7, and hydraulic cylinders 8, 9, and 10 for driving the boom, the arm, and the bucket, respectively; and a counter weight 12 mounted in the rear of the upper frame 2 to keep the balance of the equipment during working.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, in a conventional tool box for heavy equipment, a tool box door 13 is mounted on the upper frame 2 to open from the front to the rear side of the equipment, and a hand rail 16 and an anti-slip plate 17 are installed so that an operator can safely ascend and descend by stepping on the tool box door 13.
In the drawing, unexplained reference numeral “14” denotes a catch for detachably fixing the tool box door 13 to a tool box body 15 so as to prevent the movement and vibration of the tool box door 13 during traveling or working of the equipment.
In the conventional tool box structure, in order to repair or replace a component installed in the engine room 4 for the purpose of checking the performance of the corresponding component, an operator should step on the tool box door 13 to ascend toward the engine room 4. In this case, it is required that separate auxiliary structures, such as the hand rail 16, the anti-slip plate 17, and the like, are used, and this causes the manufacturing cost to be increased.
Also, when an operator ascends toward the engine room 4, the tool box door 13 is used as a movement path, and thus an upper surface of the tool box door 13, on which an operator steps, is kept as a plane while a section of the tool box is in the form of steps. Accordingly, the tool box door 13 is mounted on the upper frame 2 with limited size and shape.
Also, since the tool box door 13 opens from the front to the rear of the equipment (i.e. it opens from the bottom to the upside of the equipment), the tool box door 13 is restricted by structure when it is mounted on the upper frame 2.
Also, after the catch 14 is unlocked, the tool box door 13 may be simply opened at any time, contrary to the operator's intention, and this may cause the damage of the tool box door.